Toy figure



N WHEATER' TOY FIGURE Filed Sept- 5' 1936 Patented Mar. 15, 1938 UNl'l'ESTATS PATENT OFFRE TOY FIGURE Application September 3, 1936, Serial No.99,225

In Great Britain September 13, 1935 2 Claims.

This invention relates to toy figures, and has for its object to providea nommeohanical figure of simple construction which, when drawn along,will automatically assume a walking motion.

I am aware that many attempts have been made to construct walking toyswherein the body sways from side to side, but all such toys, when not inmotion, lean either to one side or the other in a most unnaturalposition, and in some cases the free leg is stuck out in front. Theobject of the present invention is to provide an improved toy having anew combination and arrangement of parts and featurea'some of which arealready known per se, so as to produce a more natural effect whilstwalking and also when at rest.

According to the present invention, I provide a toy consisting of afigure adapted to simulate walking when drawn along, comprising a body,gravitypperated legs pivoted to the body, and a foot rigid with eachleg, said foot having a convex rolling surface formed by a forward andinner curved surface normal to the plane of symmetry of the body andpartly out away at an angle to form a supplemental intersecting rearwardand outer curved surface, the said legs being adapted to swing freelybetween xed stops and assuming a normal position slightly forward of thecentral position when the body is held in the natural erect positionwith the legs free to swing.

When such a toy figure is stood on a level surface, its body stands inthe natural erect position with the plane of symmetry verticallydisposed and the weight supported evenly on the inner surfaces of thefeet.

In such a toy figure, the shape of the feet causes the weight to betransferred from side to side when a forward motion is given to the toyby means of a member attached to the body portion of the toy.

The figure may represent a dog, bear or other quadruped, a duck or otherbird, a doll or other biped or any other natural, humorous or fancifulobject.

The accompanying drawing illustrates two toy figures according to myinvention. In the drawlng,

Figure l is a perspective elevation of a toy dog;

Figure 2 is a front end elevation thereof;

Figure 3 is an underside plan; and

Figure 4 is a sectional elevation through the pivot of one pair of legs.

Figure 5 is a perspective elevation of a toy duck.

Referring to the said drawing, in the example illustrated in Figs. l to4, the body portion d of the figure is cut from a flat piece of wood andshaped to represent a dogs head and body, the flat side faces of saidportion being vertical. Two p-airs of legs b are provided, each pairbeing pivoted on the projecting ends of an axle c passed 5 horizontallythrough the body near the under face thereof, the two axles beingparallel. Loose washers d are interposed between the side faces of thebody portion and the inside faces of the legs to ensure that the latterswing freely on the axle. The axles c are held against rotation in thebody by being formed with central keys as shown in Fig. 4.` The ends ofeach Vaxle are bored out and a headed stud or the like e is driven intoeach end so as to be frictionally fixed therein, the heads of said studspreventing unintentional removalof the legs b.

Each leg b` is pivoted adjacent to its forward face and terminates in aforwardly-projecting foot J of substantially rectangular shape in planhaving a convex under surface. Each foot f projects on the inside of itsleg to form a ledge or shoulder g which lies partially beneath the bodya and co-acts with the under face thereof thus forming fixed stops tolimit the to-and-fro swing of the leg. The curved under surface h ofsaid inwardly-projecting porti-on and the toe of the foot is cut to forma part of a cylinder co-axial with the pivot c of the leg. The remainingportion y of the curved under surface of the foot is cut to form part ofa cylinder having an axis which lies in the same vertical plane as saidpivot but is inclined thereto in a downward direction towards the insideof the foot. Thus, the under surface of each foot comprises twointersecting curved surfaces of which the forward and inner surfaces hof each pair of feet are portions of cylinders supporting the body a, ina` vertical position on which it can be rocked to and fro in a verticalplane if the body is reciprocated lengthwise. Any lateral pull on thebody however causes it to cant in the direction of said pull onto therearward and outer surface 7' of the feet on the side towards which itis pulled.

With a toy made in accordance with this invention, if the toy is held upin the natural erect position with the legs free to swing, they willautomatically take up positions slightly forward of the central positionbetween the xed stops.

In this position, which the feet normally assume and which willtherefore hereinafter be referred to as the normal position of the feet,the toes are upwardly directed and the rear portion of the feet lievertically below the pivots ci. The foot, however, is not swung forwardto such an extent that the rear edge is lowermost. If the toy is nowlowered onto a level surface it will stand in the natural erect positionwith the plane f symmetry vertically disposed. In the case of the dogillustrated in Figs. 1 to 4, the weight will be evenly supported on theinner surfaces of all the feet. In the case of the duck shown in Fig, 5,part of the weight is evenly supported on the inner surface of the feet,the rest of the weight being taken on the button m.

If the toy is drawn along the ground by a cord attached at k, as thebody moves forward its feet lag and the forward and inner surfaces andthe rearward and outer surfaces alternately serve as rolling fulcrums orrockers so that the legs 0n each side alternately are raised sui'hcientto clear the ground and allow them to swing automatically forward, thefigure assuming a waddling or side-to-side swaying movement as it isdrawn along.

When the forward movement ceases the toy returns or tends to return fromany position to the natural erect position with the plane of symmetryvertically disposed and the weight, or part thereof, evenly supported onthe inner surfaces of the feet. The feet will also tend to resume theiraforesaid normal position, so that, irrespective of their position whenthe forward movement ceases, the toy will tend to resume an uprightstanding position, producing a more natural and lifelike effect than hashitherto been obtained.

By varying the position Where the outer curved surface i intersects theinner curved surface h, i. e., by varying the inclination of the axis ofthe cylinder of which the surface y forms a part, the stride of the legscan be varied.

While I have described and illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4 a four-legged toyof wood, the number of pairs of legs may be varied, and the toy may bemade of any other suitable material. For example, a two-legged toyrepresenting a duck is illustrated in Fig. 5 in which like letters ofreference are used for like parts. m is a flat button which supports therear part of the toy.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patentisz- 1. A toy consisting of a iigure adapted to simulate walking whendrawn along, comprising a body, legs pivoted to the body and swingingfreely in limited relation thereto, and a foot rigid with each leg, saidfoot having a convex rolling undersurface comprising two regularlycurved surfaces of which a curved surface adjacent to the toe of thefoot is normal to the plane of symmetry of the body and extendssubstantially throughout the length of the foot along the edge of suchundersurface adjacent to the central, vertical longitudinal plane ofsaid body whereby to support the toy in an upright normal position withsaid plane of symmetry vertical, and the curved surface adjacent to theheel and the outer edge of the foot is inwardly and downwardly inclinedto said plane.

2. A toy according to claim 1 in which the curved undersurface adjacentto the toe of the foot is a portion of a cylinder co-axial with thepivot of the leg and the curved undersurface adjacent to the heel of thefoot is a portion of a cylinder having an axis lying in the samevertical plane as said pivot but inclined thereto in a downwarddirection towards the inside of the foot.

NELSON WHEA'IER.

